Outside of the Gilded Cage (Ficlet)
by AvatarofBahamut
Summary: Alistair/F!Amell, originally posted on Tumblr as a response to a prompt "Alistair/Amell: are you flirting with me?" Alistair joins his fellow warden at the edge of the stream to chat, only to find the two of them exchanging words that make them all flustered.


Outside of the Gilded Cage – An Alistair/Amell Ficlet

She was running for her life while carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. That was certainly a change of pace for the young mage. At least, it seemed that way when she compared it to her life of being confined behind the walls of the Circle Tower. There was certainly a lot less running involved, anyway. But there still might have been the weight of the world. The Templars certainly talked as if the mages abilities were heavy burdens.

Jael Amell knew full well that there was truth to it- mages had a great power that could be dangerous if not controlled or use for selfish purposes. It only made sense that in turn they had a great responsibility to themselves as well as the people around them. She understood that.

She had always seen Templars as well-meaning but strict and dutiful individuals. She thought of the Knight-Commander and a certain blonde Templar by the name of Cullen when those words came to mind. Of the two, Cullen was probably the friendliest; he would talk with her frequently when the two were alone, and he seemed to enjoy her company, rather than being afraid of her. Although, he always seemed to stammer when he talked to her, something he had much less of a problem with around others. And his face got red easily too.

There were rumors floating around the tower that he was pining after Jael, but she paid no heed to them. After all, they were just that: rumors. She did considered Cullen a friend, but he was a Templar who took his duty very seriously. She wasn't interested in him romantically, and even if she was, she wouldn't bring such a thing to him out of respect for his position. That was the argument she told herself, anyway. And besides, it couldn't be true. He couldn't have carried a torch for her, could he?

That life seemed to be growing further away from her in the wake of her joining the Grey Wardens, and the disaster that was Ostagar. She now found herself in the company of another Templar. No, that wasn't entirely accurate. He was an initiate before joining the Wardens. He had never completed his training and was never granted full knighthood.

But, even so, she expected quite a different personality from even someone who was but a mere candidate for the order. Alistair turned everything she had come to expect from the Templar order on its head. He was sarcastic, he was easy-going, and he didn't seem to care one bit about her being a mage. Hell, he barely even brought it up most of the time. Not even her former friend Cullen ever got by ignoring the fact she was what she was. It was always something there.

It was evening, and the small band had set up camp near a stream in the woods. The apostate Morrigan was resting in her tent and the dog, Asher, was curled up by the fire that they had going, next to Leliana and Sten. Jael had excused herself to go sit by the edge of the stream, a comfortable distance away. She brushed down her robe before sitting down cross-legged, holding onto her staff in one hand as she watched the water slowly swirling past her. It was peaceful, and she had hoped that this would be a moment of quiet. But, a certain someone seemed to notice her absence from the campfire.

She was sure of this when she heard his voice.

"So, decided you needed a moment to yourself from our merry band of misfits?"

Jael smiled softly.

"Misfits, certainly. I'm not sure how merry we all are though. But yes, I was hoping to be alone for a moment," she laughed.

"Oh, I'm…I probably shouldn't be disturbing you then…that is…"

"If you came here to sit down with me, then go ahead. I just won't be particularly talkative is all," she explained. Her fellow warden Alistair, the former Templar initiate, took a seat next to her, still dressed in his dusty scale armor. He noticed her dark blue eyes were watching the stream with intent.

"I've never seen one before," she whispered, reaching out her free hand to touch the surface of the water. The stream covered the tips of her long, pale fingers and started to wet the sleeve of her orange robe.

Alistair looked away.

"You mean a stream?"

"Yes. Most of the windows in the tower were stain glass, so I hardly ever saw a view of Lake Calenhad, let alone any other body of water," Jael explained reflectively.

"You were never aloud outside of the tower much, were you?," he asked, frowning for a moment.

"I was never allowed outside at all," said Jael.

Alistair's brow furrowed. It was one of the few occasions he ever even asked about that sort of thing. She caught him looking back at her for a moment, his brown eyes looking over her messy brown hair and violet tattoos. The sandy blonde quickly looked away, before crossing him arms over his knees.

"They didn't even allow you to walk the grounds just outside?"

"Maybe, but I think there would have been a lot of hoops to jump through, up to and including permission from the Knight-Commander, at least, several people made it out to be that way."

"When you put it that way, it makes my life in the Chantry sound carefree and rosy," he joked. Jael shook her head. He had told her a little bit about his training, how he had come to it. He was initially raised by a noble, Arl Eamon, but was left in the care of the Chantry. She still didn't know the full story yet, but she knew he hated it there. In a way, it reminded her of how several of her fellow mages hated being in the Circle.

"I'm sure things were pretty strict for you to, were they not?"

"Oh sure, they had the recruits on a pretty tight schedule. But we were allowed in the outer rim of the grounds during what little free time we had. I remember a lot of the other boys were chase and tackle each other in the mud when they got the chance," he laughed.

"That actually sounds like fun," Jael smiled.

"Well, sure, until the Revered Mother scolded us all for getting our robes filthy. But, we did it anyway; you know how young boys are?"

"Well, at least that doesn't sound too different from how children act in the circle."

"Did you get into any mischief, Jael?," he asked with a smirk and a jesting tone in his voice. The young mage started making little circles in the dirt with her staff as she pondered the question.

"No, I was pretty well-behaved compared to the other children. I was very quiet. But, I think part of it was that I didn't mind being there. I was scared when I first came to the circle. But…I felt safe knowing that there were other people like me…other people who understood me and weren't afraid."

Alistair chuckled.

"People, afraid of you?"

"I'm a mage, Alistair. According to some, there's a lot to be afraid of."

Alistair cocked his head, stroking the stubble on his chin thoughtfully.

"Yes, but you can't exactly tell who's a mage just by looking at them, right?"

Jael cleared her throat, pointing out her robes and staff.

"Well, I suppose there's that. But, even so, I have a hard time imagining anyone being afraid of you. You're smart, you're kind, you're beautiful…I just don't see any evidence to suggest anything to fear."

Jael's fair face flushed.

"Well, I could say the same of you."

Alistair raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"Well, we were all taught to fear the Templars. Even the one Templar I considered my friend…I always had to be cautious with him. But…I have a hard time imagining you as someone who would try to hurt me. You seem more…"

She twirled her staff as she pondered the words.

"You seem more the gallant and handsome knight than the stern watcher of mages."

Alistair smiled mischievously at Jael.

"A gallant and handsome knight? Jael, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were flirting with me," he mused, "I mean…Are you flirting with me?"

Jael's blush grew darker.

"And you called me beautiful…were you trying to flirt with me as well?"

The two of them sat in silence for a moment, both of them too embarrassed to say anything.

"Yes," she admitted, "In my own awkward way. I guess I was. That's something I didn't do much of in the circle, either."

She noticed Alistair didn't respond, and she felt a pang of guilt.

"I mean…did I make you uncomfortable? Do you want me to stop?"

Alistair started to blush as well.

"No no no! It's alright," Alistair tried to reassure her, "This is just the first time you've said something like that. I was just surprised."

"Well, I guess I did it first, didn't I? I walked into that one," he huffed, smirking playfully, "And what about you? I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I?"

Jael shook her head.

"Well, you seem to do it a lot… and…well…I guess I rather like hearing that sort of thing…especially from you."

"Well…I'll just have to keep that in mind, won't I? I've got plenty of lines still for you yet, Jael. Trust me on that one."


End file.
